Tell Me You Need Me

by Joya Ryan

  “I like the way you look at me,” she whispered.

  He glanced up her body and met her eyes, silently coaxing her to continue.

  “I like the feel of your arms against my skin when you hug me. When you wrap them around me. I feel…small.”

  He kept his gaze on hers and slowly trailed his tongue along her clit. She smiled and arched into him.

  “You’re the only man I’ve gone back to more than once,” she admitted around a breathless moan of bliss.

  Her words were more addicting than the sugar on her skin. He wanted to tell her how amazing she was, but that’s not what she wanted. So he delved his tongue deep and gave her what she did want.

  She moaned and her arms shook.

  He smiled and pulled back. “Lie down, sweetheart. I’ve got you. I’ll even make it quick.”

  She lowered herself flat against the table. The sound of her skin sticking to the surface as her back met the wood flared a dose of need in him, hot and quick. Every breath, gasp, and move she made was like a siren calling. Those same damn breaths would linger in his ears long after she was gone and echo in his dreams.

  “You drive me crazy,” she said. “I’ve never known another man like you.”

  He licked faster, flicking wildly until her back was arching.

  “Oh God…” she moaned. “Never known another man who can make me feel the way you do.”

  He was deep in paradise, surrounded by her smooth skin and silky core, and he didn’t want to be anywhere else. Her heels dug into his back, and she worked her hips up and down, fucking his tongue every time he thrust it deep.

  She was so close. So responsive. His to maneuver how he wanted. She challenged his strength, but bringing her to heel was hot, and he was a bastard for loving it the way he did. And her words—he wanted to beg her to repeat them. Because his hope of convincing her to try a long-distance relationship lay in those words. Maybe his exchange of romance for sex could pay off in the end and he’d get what he wanted.

  Her.

  For now, he’d stick to the rules. Play the game. An even exchange.

  He ate her like he’d never get the chance again. She was drenching his tongue. Raining down on him. Her sheath tensed and the table creaked as she squirmed against his mouth. She was there.

  “Ready to come for me?”

  “Yes!” She threw her hips out, and he knew what she wanted. She wanted to be filled. She liked it hard and rough and deep. He ran his hand down his jeans where his cock was straining against the fabric—God, it’d feel incredible to have it buried deep in her…

  But all he could do was yank her closer and drive his tongue deep once, twice, three times. And then, when she was panting, he pulled back and surged a finger inside.

  Her ass came off the table, but his mouth was right there to catch her clit, lock down, and suck the little bundle while thrusting a finger in and out.

  She wiggled and trembled. Her hands slapped on the table, and she threw her hips up to rub even harder against his lips. And right then, Gage was teetering on the brink of losing himself.

  Fire.

  Chloe was certain Gage had replaced her blood with fire.

  Every stroke of his tongue and pump of his hand had her burning up from the inside out. She was so close, yet so far. She was getting what she wanted…sort of. She loved sex. Loved feeling him inside her, and he knew it. He could make her come so easily, and he would. But she always wanted the extra feeling of his naked body against hers, inside hers. Loved feeling his skin, his cock, his muscles.

  What was that called? Connection?

  No, no, surely not. And even if it was, she wouldn’t admit it.

  This was an even exchange, pure and simple. She had to say things to get what she wanted. Sure, everything she’d told him was true, but that didn’t mean she wanted to embrace anything beyond a few sweet words. Certainly not “the romance” he kept demanding.

  A burst of pleasure jolted through her body when he sucked harder and buried another finger deep, curving it to rub continuously over the sensitive spot inside her.

  Those flames erupted and roared, flooding her body like a tidal wave that grew and swelled until finally—

  Raw pleasure surged and slammed into her like pulsing water crashing into the shore. “Yes!” she screamed.

  He drank her down, working his tongue a bit slower, as if savoring her release on his fingers and lips. Her whole body shook, and the table against her back squeaked as she convulsed.

  More. She needed more. The bad thing about Gage was every time she was with him, she never felt sated, only more crazed. As if the first orgasm had only awakened a deeper need only he could satisfy.

  Chloe got up, slid off the table, and straddled his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. She needed to feel him. Experience him. She’d waited so damn long, and now she had him right where she wanted him. She reached between them and fumbled with his belt. Unzipped his pants. In one quick move, she’d have his cock free and inside her—

  “Easy there,” he growled. He pulled on her hair until it stung, thrusting her chin in the air before he claimed her mouth with his.

  She grabbed his hair, too, pulling him into a deeper kiss, and went for the glory. She pushed her hands into his underwear—

  He pulled her hand back out and meshed her fingers with his.

  “Ah, ah. This was a fair exchange. No full sex until I get full romance. My demands stand. You ready for our dinner date?”

  She growled and glared at him. He was right there, so hard he was pulsing.

  Gage tugged her hair a little more, and she gasped. “Don’t go being a poor sport because you didn’t get your way.” He nipped her chin.

  “I still want to make you come.” She looked at him while his grip held firm in her hair. She was at his mercy. They both knew it. She might not be able to get into his pants the way she wanted, but maybe she could work around them.

  She slowly sank her hand into his open fly and gripped his rock-hard shaft through his boxers. His jaw clenched.

  “Looks like the vote is two”—she squeezed his cock—“to one. Me and this big guy here are all for some fun. You’re the only one playing coy.”

  He breathed deep, as if trying to gain composure, but she had him. With his fingers still in her hair and her hand on his cock, she maneuvered her way off his lap and hit her knees between his spread legs. Halfway down, his grip on her hair tightened. Tough guy wanted to come as badly as she wanted him to.

  And God did she want to make him come. The sooner she felt him surge from her touch, the sooner she could slake this aching need.

  One thing she liked about Gage was how he made her feel different. She could be honest. Give in to her fantasies and let passion rule. There was no overthinking, because the time they shared never lasted long enough to really overthink.

  Until this recent stunt of his with the whole three week sticking around thing. Too much time led to too much thinking and too many opportunities for the fantasy to dwindle. She wanted to stay in suspended bliss with him. Was that so much to ask?

  Truth was, she’d rather be a momentary fantasy than a heartbroken reality.

  A spike of anger hit her at his insistence on breaking through the boundaries that kept her safe and satisfied enough to keep moving forward.

  She pulled his pants low on his hips and tugged his cock out. Finally, she had all the access she needed. He was driving her crazy by denying her what she wanted, but maybe it was time to turn the tables.

  Sex for romance? Nope.

  But oral for oral? He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

  “So now that you’ve gotten your sweet nothings, time for the dirty talk,” she said. “And since you’re in the spirit of an even exchange, you’re going to sit there and take it. Because I have you at my mercy now.”

  “Chloe…”

  “You asked me the other night what I thought of?” she purred in her best seductr
ess voice while keeping a tight grip on the base of his cock. “I’ve thought of this…” She ran her tongue along the crown, and he hissed. “I thought of how good you taste. How good you feel.” She closed her mouth over the head and sucked hard, then delivered a little kiss to ease the sting. “I’d make myself come just picturing sucking you. I’d think of every detail I could remember, every ridge and inch of you.”

  She licked down the entire shaft, then up the other side. His hips subtly flexed, coaxing her for more.

  “So good…” he murmured.

  “And you want to hear a secret?” She hovered her mouth over where he wanted it most. “I’d suck my own fingers, imagining it was you, while sinking the others inside of me.” She put her free hand between her legs. “Like this.” She took his entire length into her throat while matching the action with her own finger disappearing inside of her.

  “Jesus, Chloe.” He moved his hips with her, matching her intake with a thrust upward.

  She stole glances at his expression. His head fell back, but his gaze never strayed from her for long. Holding her face, he ran his thumbs along her cheekbones and over her hollowing cheeks as she worked him up and down with her mouth.

  “I’ve thought of this so many damn times,” he said. “But my imagination is never as good as the real thing.”

  That made her want to preen. The sexy, sinister man could easily break her, consume her, and he was clutching her like he needed a place to fall. She loved this power she had over him, but she wanted more. Always more. It was a need she wasn’t sure would ever pass, so she’d take what she could. It was the basis of what made their casual relationship work.

  Just taking what I can, while I can…

  She’d repeat it over and over if she had to. There was a time cap, because she couldn’t do weeks of dating and romance with him. But this? She sucked him deeper, pumped the base of his cock. This she could do. Feeling him tense and hum beneath her mouth was what she wanted. To make him feel pleasure like no one else could, and for him to do the same to her.

  But still, getting in too deep with him was dangerous, which was why brief interactions were best.

  She pumped faster. Sucked hard at the tip, then drew his entire cock into her mouth, in and out, in and out, again and again. A low groan escaped his chest as she licked the big vein that climbed up his shaft.

  Her only complaint was his clothes. They were still on.

  It was a crime for anything to cover his impressive muscles. All she could see was the hint of his powerful thighs showing. His naked body put Adonis to shame, and she couldn’t even get more than a glimpse. That needed to change.

  She removed her hand from between her legs and went to lift his shirt. But he caught her wrist and brought that finger to his mouth and sucked it.

  “Mmm, fuck, I could eat you forever.” He licked her finger clean and delivered a little bite. She grazed her teeth along his flesh as his balls drew up. “I’m there, I’m going to come.”

  She bore down, sucking faster and faster. With a tight grip on her wrist, he bit down on the fleshy part of her thumb as his release hit the back of her throat.

  She swallowed him down and continued sucking until he shuddered and collapsed backward, saved only by her grabbing his shirt and holding him in place. When she let him go, he slowly sat up and planted kisses along her knuckles and fingertips.

  “You can’t make this easy, can you?” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

  She clung to his open pants resting low on his hips, and she looked up into those intense eyes. “I want you to stay. I want to feel you inside me. Want you to take me hard and slow, then rough and fast. Stay tonight and I promise I’ll be extremely easy.”

  He kissed her lips lightly and whispered, “Have dinner with me. One date. And I’ll be easy right back.”

  She looked up into those eyes and her knees swayed. But she had to stay strong. Gage was dangerous for her heart—she’d known that from day one. Time wasn’t on her side—the more she fell, the more it would hurt. And she knew better than to expect too much. They had a powerful, explosive sexual relationship. Pretending they had anything more was a disaster waiting to happen.

  He knew that. She knew that. It was only a question of how long he could resist her. But sooner or later, he’d give up this crazy scheme of his. She just had to be hot, tempting…and patient.

  She gave a small tug on his pants and fastened them.

  He glanced down and nodded. Her answer was clear.

  “This isn’t over.” He kissed her hard and quick. “Not by a long shot.”

  He turned and stomped out and her body broke out into goose bumps. She knew very well she was poking a bear, and yes…this wasn’t over by a long shot.

  Chapter Four

  “God, this sucks so bad.” Chloe tossed her spatula on the counter. She’d woken up early to try to make her mom’s famous crab cakes and test them out as a specialty appetizer for next week’s twentieth anniversary of the restaurant.

  “It’s not so bad…” Natalie looked over her shoulder in the big back kitchen of the restaurant. Chloe didn’t have to turn around to feel her frowning. “Are they supposed to be black?”

  Chloe shook her head. “No.”

  What would her mom think if she could see the restaurant now? They were making do, sure, but they were nowhere near the level of perfection her mother had achieved. She could imagine her restaurant ending up on a show like Kitchen Nightmares. Once great, now in steady decline, soon to vanish from the face of the earth.

  No, she’d die before she let that happen. This wasn’t just a great restaurant—it was all she had left of her mother. People came and went, but this? Just this once, Chloe would get it right.

  Which was why she’d hired a chef. It was also why this twentieth anniversary event needed to have her mother’s old recipes reinstated—and furthermore, why she had to be the one to bring them back.

  The other foods set to go on the menu were close to perfect—thanks to said amazing chef—but Chloe wanted to make this one dish herself. Crab cakes had been her favorite thing to eat growing up, comfort food when her dad had left, a bittersweet solace when her mom had gotten sick.

  Her mom had insisted on making them for her even when her health had declined and she should have been resting in bed. Chloe had never been able to recreate their uniquely delicious flavors¸ but she was determined to try. It was the one thing she wanted to make and present. Anything to feel closer to her mother and prove that to herself she was a part of her goodness.

  “The anniversary party is next week.” Chloe scraped the pan, and it spit oil at her. “And these aren’t going on the menu until they’re right.”

  Natalie gently patted Chloe’s shoulder. “Keep trying.”

  Chloe spun to face her. “You’re a chef. Can’t you help me? Teach me something? Anything.”

  “Whoa, I bake. Big difference.” Natalie shoved her glasses up her nose, then peered back at the pan. “Besides, don’t think I forgot you telling me to leave you alone and let you do it yourself.”

  Oh, right, that. Last week she might have snipped at her best friend. She’d never meant to, but frustration was running high, and if there was one thing Chloe hated, it was being so close to something and not finishing.

  Her mind briefly turned to Gage.

  Talk about frustrating.

  But this dish had to be right, and she had to do it. No failing. No “coming close.” Nope, this had to be perfect. Her mother was dead, and honestly, Chloe had watched her die in more ways than one over the years. First, she’d watched her soul slowly wither after her father left them. Then she watched cancer slowly take her body. The two things in her life she’d never been able to control…death and being left.

  On a deep breath and rapid batting of her lashes to keep the sting away, she looked at her friend.

  “I’m not saying make the crab cakes for me. I’m saying maybe give me a hint or two.”

 
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Snap my fingers and turn you into Gordon Ramsay for a day?” She chuckled. “I don’t think it works that way.” She hugged Chloe, then stepped back and held her shoulders. “You have to believe you’re capable of something more. Trust yourself. The anniversary will be great and the restaurant will be packed.”

  Yeah, it would be. And she hoped her mother would be proud. It’d only been two years since she’d passed away and it still hurt. She’d been the kindest woman in the world, and her spirit had never broken—except when it came to Chloe’s father. He’d crushed Mary Franklin in a way no one and nothing else could. She’d waited for him to return until her dying breath.

  Chloe had met Gage right after her mother had passed, and he’d been the best distraction. But with the anniversary of the restaurant coming up and Gage in town, her mother’s presence and all the sadness and joy that came with it lingered in her mind. She tried to stay positive, but lately she was sure she was failing her mother’s memory. Failing her business. Failing to live up to the legacy her mother had left behind.

  “Did the article come out yet?” Natalie asked.

  The local newspaper had done an article featuring Honey’s and a retrospective on how her mother had turned her own home into the bar and grill twenty years ago. The journalist had promised the article would run this week, but still nothing.

  “No. I’m keeping an eye out for it.”

  Natalie nodded and hopped up on the counter, dangling her legs against the cabinets. “So…are you going to tell me about last night with hottie McSearchy?”

  Chloe grabbed a potholder and hustled the sizzling pan to the sink. “It was fine.”

  “Uh-huh. Is that why you look equal parts mad and happy?”

  She sighed. “I got some of what I wanted.”

  “Some? Tough cookie to swallow when your heart is set on the whole batch.” Natalie winked. “So he didn’t give up the man meat, huh?”

  “Jesus,” Chloe said around a smile. “Did you seriously say ‘man meat’?”

  “What? I’m just asking.”